Is the iPad really the weakest link?

Tablet shipments overall are expected to maintain low but positive growth over the next five years, according to a report from International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC has also labeled the iPad as being the weakest link in the tablet arena, expecting its volume share of the market to decline significantly by 2019.

On the other hand, IDC expects Windows tablets such as the Surface to gain share over the next five years from 5.1 percent in 2014 to 14.1 percent by 2019. The market share for tablets running iOS is expected to decline from 2014s 27.6 percent to 23 percent in 2019.

Wait a minute. IDC expects the iPad to become less popular while the Surface becomes more popular? Those numbers could easily have the Windows tablet surpassing the iPad in market share by 2024. Why might that be, with as unreliable as Windows-based tablets have historically been? A research director at IDC, Jean Philippe Bouchard, says, Microsoft is doing a lot of good things right now and we believe the launch of Windows 10 later this year will not only have a significant impact on Microsofts share of the market, but on the industry as a whole.

Sorry, but Im not buying it. Apples iPad has been continually refreshed and updated with new technology, and the eventual release of a 12-inch iPad should breathe new life into the lineup of products. Apple has also been much better about updating the iOS software with new features and bug fixes, maintaining itas a more secure and stable operating system platform than Windows.